This column is being prepared over the Easter Weekend and I hope everyone has had a Happy Easter. As Parliament is currently in recess until 17 April, I have been spending a few days with my family and will be out and about across the Sedgefield Constituency after Easter Monday.
While Westminster is on recess, and I was away, I am using this opportunity to share with you some facts about the constituency and Westminster.
In 2019, when I was elected, the Constituency had an electorate of approximately sixty-five thousand and reached from towns and villages in the north – Thornley, Wheatley Hill, Wingate and Station Town to Heighington and Coniscliffe, Hurworth, Neasham, Middleton St George, Bishopton and Sadberge, – in the south. In the middle of the Constituency, we have Bishop Middleham, the Cornforths, Broom, Chilton, Ferryhill, Fishburn, all the Trimdons, Sedgefield, Aycliffe Village and Newton Aycliffe. Those described as in the south of the Constituency are provided with local services by Darlington Borough Council whilst the rest of the towns and villages receives local services from Durham County Council.
Towns and villages described as in the north and south are proposed to leave the constituency at the next election and be replaced by some towns and villages to the north west corner with Spennymoor being the largest. The final result of this Boundary Commission for England (BCE) review of Parliamentary Constituency Boundaries will be concluded on 1 July 2023 and the current proposal means the ‘Sedgefield’ Constituency will be renamed as ‘Newton Aycliffe and Spennymoor’. BCE rules require there to still be 650 constituencies across the UK, but more equally distributed across the four parts of the UK. They are all required to be close to 70,000 electorate.
There are 650 MPs representing these constituencies but as there only 427 seats in the chamber of the House of Commons, the rest must stand, especially on big days like the Spring Budget this year. To book a seat, at 8am, MPs can place a ‘prayer card’ in the place in the chamber where they would like to sit and would then have to be in the chamber at the start of that day’s sitting for prayers.
Debates in the Commons chamber are chaired by the Speaker of the House of Commons – currently Rt Hon Sir Lindsay Hoyle MP for Chorley, Lancashire. The holder of this office is an MP who has been elected to be Speaker by other Members of Parliament. During debates, the Speaker keeps order and calls MPs to speak. They are responsible for ensuring that the rules are observed, and order is maintained in the Chamber. When a speaker is elected, they cease to be involved in party politics and become politically impartial. The Speaker is supported in their work by three Deputy Speakers and they are currently Dame Eleanor Laing, Dame Rosie Winterton and Nigel Evans. For information two were elected as Conservative and two as Labour.
The Houses of Parliament (the House of Commons and the House of Lords) were once known as the Palace of Westminster after it was built during the 11th century as a royal palace and technically belong to the reigning monarch, King Charles III. There have been many changes to parliamentary rules since 1265 when the first Parliament met in the city of Westminster, however, due to noblemen causing trouble and fighting in parliament, it is still against the law to wear armour in parliament as detailed in the Statute Forbidding Bearing of Armour or Coming Armed to Parliament Act 1313. Purple ribbons are still attached to the coat-hangers in the members’ cloakroom, allowing MPs to hang up their swords as well as their coats.
My Westminster office is in Richmond House, a considerable distance from the House of Commons when I have to rush to parliamentary meetings and to vote in the chamber, but it certainly keeps me fit! I expect to be very busy after recess with a full schedule in Westminster and in the Constituency. We will also be preparing for the coronation of King Charles III which takes place at Westminster Abbey on 6 May 2023 and the many events that will be taking place in London and across the UK to celebrate our King’s coronation.
If you’d like me to pop in and say hello at a Street Party or event over the Coronation weekend, please let me know and we will try to schedule you in. If you want to get in touch about the Coronation, or any other questions you may have about Parliament or Constituency matters, you can always reach me through email:
paul.howell.mp@parliament.uk or call Aycliffe 01325 790580.